BRAHMS - SONATA A MAJOR OP 100 VIOLIN/PNO

Brahms composed his violin sonatas in A major and D minor during the summer of 1886. Both works quickly became part of the standard repertoire and have remained so until today. They are presented here in fine Barenreiter Urtext editions and come with an unmarked Urtext part as well as a second part marked with fingering and bowing by Clive Brown which are based on the practices of Brahms' contemporaries.

An important part of these editions are the extensive prefaces. Firstly they inform about the works' origins, their compositional processes, pre-publication performances, their publication histories as well as early reception. Truly remarkable is the unique Performance Practice Commentary. Here the editors take the premise that already a few decades after Brahms' death a widening gulf developed between the composer's expectations and the performance practices of the early 20th century. In a very concrete and practical way, the editors summarize some of the key issues in understanding Brahms' notation with regard to rhythm and timing, dynamics and accentuation, dots and strokes, slurring and non legato, piano pedalling and overholding, piano arpeggiation and dislocation, string instrument fingering, string instrument harmonics and vibrato.